Secret of Survival
by YamazakiWolf
Summary: In the midst of another outbreak, Frank finds shelter in a school where he meets a group of young girls, living there. As peaceful and lively everything seems to be, no one has forgotten the fact that the world is overrun by zombies. And they can't stay in this school forever
1. Chapter 1

The zombies of this city seemed smaller than usual. Perhaps because they were only kids. The weather was fine today, and it would have seemed like a normal day, if it wasn't because of the familiar smell of death and rotten flesh. Frank couldn't remember the last time; the air didn't stink like that.

As he snuck further into the building, carefully maneuvering between hordes of zombies, many of which were wearing the same uniform, Frank managed to enter the building with much ease. Even here zombies had infiltrated the place, though not in such an extent as the courtyard. The building itself, seemed familiar from the inside, perhaps from some newspaper, he once read. Everything was clean and simple, despite the numerous touches of bloodstains and destruction. There were no pictures on the wall, no decorations around aside from flowerpots in the open classrooms. Signs, signaling which classes studied there, hung over the doors, some were broken. Each room, though the chaotic state, was perfectly lined and identical.

Curious, Frank took a peek into 1-B, according to the sign. Tables were knocked over, there was blood everywhere. Desks were broken and some unfortunately small bodies lay crushed below the rubble of a half-shattered blackboard, it looked chaotic alright albeit it was nothing compared to what Frank had witnesses in his lifetime. He did, however feel uncomfortable with the subject of child-death, even if a number of outbreaks did wonders for hardening a man.

Frank averted his eyes from the spectacle, proceeding to avoid zombies. With little effort he found his way to the second floor where even less zombies roamed the hallways. On the third floor, no zombies were around, which gave Frank plenty of time to take photos of the catastrophe. It was tragic that the children had to be slaughtered like this. Frank sighed as he aimed his camera at classrooms and a noticeboard with posters for a PE. Day.

Suddenly, he wondered if there were any survivors here. This floor was cleaner that the others, so maybe the zombies hadn't found their way up here yet. The hallway suddenly darkened, it was hard to see clearly. A thick smell of blood lingered here, but there was no moaning. Frank proceeded to move forward, albeit carefully as the last thing he wanted was to get bitten. Especially since he had no Zombrex.

As he ventured further into the hallway, he began to see light. Partly, anyway but light nonetheless. And everything remained quiet. Somewhere within Frank he began to get hopes for signs of life.

And someone _was_ here. A barricade, built of desks and held together with strong wire. Quite impressive, Frank admitted to himself, trying to pull the tightly knotted strings. They barely budged, and they looked like they were regularly maintained. Likely, more than one person built this.

Growing increasingly interested, Frank carefully climbed the barricade, as it didn't look like it was suspended to anything. He managed to crawl under one of the tables, only to be greeted by another proof of life; a dog barking.

Frank's theory was further powered by the smell of curry…

"Rii-san, that's looking really good!" a girl with dark purple pigtails swung an arm around another girl with long brown hair, who was almost done boiling rice. "You shouldn't hang around me like that when I'm cooking." Yuuri chuckled, turning off the rice boiler, she turned to the two girls, sitting ready at the table.

"Dinner's almost ready." She called out, sounding for all in the world like a matured housewife trapped in a teenager's body. Her motherly voice caught the attention of the girls. "Yay! Rii-san's cooking is the best!" a petite girl with a black hat exclaimed in excitement and the little puppy, next to her barked in agreement. "Yuki-senpai, you shouldn't be so loud." A short-haired blonde frowned lightly, as she was in the midst of reading a book. The pup barked in disagreement. "Sorry, Mii-kun!" Yuki whispered, covering her face.

Yuuri walked over with the rice, placing it in the table before turning the pig-tailed. "Kurumi, could you bring the curry?"

"Sure thing. I can't wait to get some grub!" Kurumi grabbed the pot, and followed Yuuri. Yuki waved her arms in excitement. "Isn't it great, Mii-kun?"

Miki frowned deeper, a little annoyed by this point. "Senpai, please don't call me that. My name is still Miki." She closed her book. "But Mii-kun sounds cuter. Right Taromaru?" Yuki smiled to the dog, which barked in agreement, to which the petite girl nod in self-assured righteousness. Miki could only sigh at that.

This part of the school was relatively clean. The floor was swept, no windows broken and that smell of curry. Someone was definitely living here. As Frank walked down the hallway, he passed an open door, revealing four blankets and pillows. They were perfectly lined up next to a box with something written on it. Not that he could read, because it was written entirely in Japanese. In one of the corners, a pink schoolbag had been tossed.

…

Voices came from the next room, along with that same barking. There _were_ people here! Frank rushed to out of the room, and headed for the next. For as ready he was for human contact, he was also wary. He placed himself next to the door, listening a bit more. The last thing he wanted was to leave himself open for psychos to kill him up or worse. He needed to be careful.

"There!" A voice said, quite feminine and high pitched. More female voices began to giggle, not one of them bearing the maturity of grown women. Frank shrugged a little. The voices, they belonged to a bunch of little girls!

"Itadakimasu!" all four girls chanted, before digging in the curry. Yuki began stuffing her face at lightning speed, like she always did. It was quite surprising that she didn't choke herself. Miki, on the hand savored every bite, giving her time to enjoy the taste. "It's really good, Rii-san. You'd be a perfect housewife!" Kurumi praised.

"What? me? no…!" Yuuri couldn't help but chuckle. _Though she had begun to doubt if she ever lived long enough to get married. Or if there were anyone left to marry._ "I bet Megu-nee would be a good wife too!" Yuki proclaimed, rather matter-of-factly. She turned to Megumi, whose face deepened into a burning red. "Yuki-chan!" she said with a flustered voice.

"Yeah, you're right. Even though Megu-nee doesn't have much of a presence, I'm sure someone will notice her!" Kurumi said, with her mouth full of curry. "Notice… me?" Megumi piped in response.

"Maybe I could sew you a wedding dress. How about that, Megu-nee?" Yuuri smiled.

Miki remained silent as the grave.

"Oh! Then I can be the bridesmaid! I bet you look really beautiful in a wedding dress, Megu-nee!" Yuki joyfully exclaimed with much enthusiasm, to with Megumi could only softly laugh at. "Oh... Ah well, maybe that would be nice, Yu-"

Someone or _something_ was knocking loudly at the door, abruptly interrupting Megumi. "Hello? I heard voices! Are you hurt?" a voice said. Quickly as lightning, Kurumi jolted to her shovel, sharply signaling everyone to be quiet. Even Taromaru, who would bark of anything was deadly silent now. It felt odd for all four of them to hear the voice of a man for once. Kurumi couldn't remember the last time; she had heard the voice of the opposite gender. It sent shivers down her spine. _And even if she could remember, she didn't want to._

Kurumi neared the door, holding her shovel firmly. The knocking continued. "I'm not here to hurt you." The voice continued. Kurumi however was wary; the last time, she let her guard down, she was almost killed. At times like this, one could never fully relax, no matter how lighthearted the School Living Club were acting. The only people she could trust were right here in this room with her.

And everyone was counting on her. She couldn't just keep crouching here forever; she needed to move. With much speed, Kurumi ripped the door open and swung her shovel against the stranger.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurumi swung the shovel with all her might, as she jumped out the door. She couldn't see the figure clearly due to her own shadow blocking the light and the fact that whatever she was attacking was wearing black.

Before she could make impact, Kurumi suddenly felt the shovel being yanked out of her hands, letting her stumble to her knees. As quickly as she went down, she glared at the figure. Expecting a zombie or a hostile figure, the pigtailed girl was greeted by a healthy helping hand. With normal human skin. The young girl couldn't believe her eyes, she looked upwards. A man, wearing sunglasses stood above her. "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching his hand further.

"I'm ok." She answered shortly, feeling a bit out of place.

Frank didn't mean to harm the girl. But he didn't expect someone like her to jump him with a shovel of all things. The girl reluctantly took his hand, and he pulled her up. She brushed some dirt of her uniform, which looked identical to the one, most zombies around here were wearing. Frank glanced into the room, where three other girls sat, wordlessly staring at him in awe. His suspicions were correct, these girls barely looked 18. Except for one wearing a black hat, she looked 12.

The apparently oldest of the girls, a brunette quickly jumped from her seat, heading towards Frank. Within seconds, she was inspecting almost every part of his body, with a sharp look in her eyes. After a while, the girl loosed up, smiling. "It looks like you're not bitten."

He returned his gaze at the girl with the pigtails, who was now firmly holding her shovel. "It wasn't my good will to do that. It's not every day, you get jumped with a shovel. But I hand it to ya; that was some impressive skills there." Judging from her physique, Frank found it surprising for a teenager to move that fast with a tool that heavy, nonetheless. He panned over the girls.

"Oh! A camera! Are you a photographer?" the tiny girl with the hat jumped from her seat, as she waltzed towards the man. She grabbed the camera around his neck and was about to take selfies with it, before Frank snatched it out of her hands. "Sorry, Kiddo. That's not a toy. By the way, I'm a photojournalist"

"I'm not a kid!" the girl pouted her lips. Then she stopped for a moment, looking at nothing before saying. "Ok. If you say so, Megu-nee." She turned to Frank, bowing "Sorry."

Frank, on the other hand raised an eyebrow at that. That was, until his stomach begun to growl. "Oh boy." He mumbled. The brunette stroke a lock behind her ear. "You must be hungry. I think we still have some curry left."

"Sorry for jumping you earlier," the pigtailed girl, smiled albeit embarrassed "I'm Kurumi Ebisuzawa." She said, before glancing at her brunette friend, who ate as dignified as the Queen of England. She wiped her mouth, before saying "Yuuri Wakasa. Pleased to meet you." She looked over to a blonde girl, whom Frank hadn't really noticed up until now. "Miki Naoki." She said dryly before returning to her food. "Yuki Takeya, but you can call me Yuki-chan!" the little girl eagerly said. "Ok. Frank West." He finally said, just now noticing how out of place he was in a band of Japanese schoolgirls.

"Oh, and this is Megu-nee!" Yuki pointed at thin air. "Megumi Sakura." Yuuri corrected. "She's our teacher." Imaginary friends had always been a red flag to Frank, and he became wary. "Ok?" albeit considering Yuki was only a child, he guessed it couldn't be helped. It would not surprise him if the girl became mental because of the outbreak.

"Anyway, what are you girls doing here on your own?"

A glum silence entered the room. Perhaps he shouldn't have said that.

These girls had been trapped in their own school, unable to talk to their families. It could only be crushing to be put in that situation, not to mention the constant threat of death outside. "Sorry, 'bout that." He said, proceeding to pan at the girls to find any reaction.

It was Yuki, who broke the silence.

"We're living here! That's the purpose of the School Living Club! And Megu-nee is our advisor. The others think it's a bit weird, but I don't mind. They like coming here and have fun! And the most important thing is that we all love school!" Yuki gleefully explained. "They're probably busy with their own clubs, senpai" Miki said. "But it is possible to join two clubs at the time." Yuuri smiled.

"Hmm, maybe more members could be nice?" Kurumi pondered. "Yes! Then it could be like our own little country. And we could go and have fun like watching fireworks! And eating cake! I bet everyone would be happy too!"

"The others…?" Frank nearly choked on a piece of chicken. He frowned deeply. Though he was surprised by Yuki's upbeat nature, he really had a hard time _not_ questioning her state of mind. She lived at school, which was understandable giving the situation at hand, and she was likely, with no doubt unstable, which was just tragic. "Sorry to interrupt but you do know there's a zom-"

"I hoped you enjoyed the food!" Yuuri interrupted, sharply glaring at Frank for a brief moment. "It was really delicious!" Kurumi smiled, watching the brunette rising from the table, taking the plate with her. "Miki, why don't you show Mr. West around." Miki shrugged, nodding. That wasn't a question. Sighing mentally, she stood up and looked at Frank, not really wanting to do this. But for the greater good, he needed to know.

Another staircase lead to the school roof. Before long they were outside, watching something that looked a garden. Fields of vegetables; all kinds of them. There was fruit too, all fresh and colorful. The scenario almost looked the Garden of Eden. It appeared that food was not much of a problem here.

"What's up with her, uh-Yuki? Scratch that, what's with _all_ of you? Everyone else in this building are dead!" suddenly Frank wondered if that was appropriate; for a moment he wondered if they were all unstable, then it hit him; the barricades! There was no possible way, none of these girls knew about the zombies, otherwise they wouldn't have built them. No one else could, since the wires looked maintained. Someone within that club knew.

But how long had they been there? Had they lost their minds because of constant isolation? Why did Yuki act like nothing ever happened at all?

So many question kept flying around in Frank's head, he was sure hell it was going to explode.

"Nothing is wrong with either of us, not even Yuki-senpai. She's just… distressed." Miki looked away. Frank frowned "Don't expect me to believe that." He changed his tone.

"Look… I can fully understand if you are stressed out by the outbreak, and if you're unable to contact your parents. I'm sorry." Frank placed a hand on Mikki's shoulder; the girl shrugged by the gesture. "Don't expect me to believe that." She said, mockingly, trying to convey a smile. Maybe she should try not to be so gloomy.

"Well, of course." Frank smirked, perhaps he wasn't much of a jerk as the girls made him feel like.

"Yuki-senpai began to 'ignore' the outbreak when Megumi-sensei died." Miki's lips dropped again. "At first, I too couldn't understand why Kurumi-senpai and Rii-san played along. In fact, I hated it."

"So why do you condone it now?"

"Perhaps you of all people here should now. You mentioned it yourself." Miki smiled again, this time a little brighter. "It's hard, true. But with Yuki-senpai, these times become more wonderful. You can't constantly keep worrying about everything."

Growing more serious, she grabbed Frank's wrist. "Please, don't hurt senpai…" the blonde girl said, almost begging.

Frank felt conflicted; could he live with himself ignoring the Yuki's mentality, outright playing along with her illusion or be the voice of brutal reason and show her reality. He could barely bring himself to choose the former, yet he had to. For now. "Ok." He said lowly, removing his hand from Miki's shoulder.

Yuuri sighed, frustrated and worried as she washed dishes, putting the leftover curry and rice in the refrigerator. Perhaps she could mix something up with whatever could be found tonight. The inventory was growing a little thin and now they needed to provide for four girls, a dog and…

A sudden rush of heat went to her body, making her see red for a brief second. She slammed the door to the refrigerator, her nails digging into the handle. _What now? What now? What now? What of he destroyed everything?_

And then it was gone.

 _Forget it… you're just stressed. Relax. He is not a bad person._

"Rii-san?" Yuki came from the doorway. "Ahh, Yuki-chan. You startled me." the brunette said, keeping her back to the pink-haired girl. She didn't need to be seen like this.

"Rii-san, are you all right?" Yuki asked, clearly worried. Taromaru barked. "I'm fine." Yuuri responded, albeit distant.

"By the way, Yuki-chan. Can you call the others here?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Yuki-chan, what do you want to do tonight?" Yuuri asked as kindly as generations of loving mothers. "Hmm…" The pink-haired girl rested her head in her hands, clearly thinking.

"…"

"Yuki?" Kurumi waved her hands before her eyes, after a minute or two.

"Senpai?" Miki raised an eyebrow. Three minutes

"Yuuki-chan?" Yuuri stroke a lock behind her ear. Five minutes.

"Err…?" Frank began. How long can it take to find out? Earlier the day she was talking in streams about how she was going to see fireworks. What the hell happened?

"I know!" Yuki exclaimed loudly, startling everyone. "We'll have a test of courage!" Taromaru barked in agreement. "That's a great idea!" Kurumi gave a thumbs-up. "Mmhmm!" the pink haired girl nodded.

Yuuri and Miki just smiled, neither of them taking time to look at Frank who was left with a half-confused half-amused expression on his face. In all honesty he saw this as a golden opportunity to found out what happened at this school. Not to mention his newfound interest in who Megumi Sakura was.

It was decided that the test would be held at midnight. Frank wanted to protest, questioning whether or not it was healthy for Yuki to stay up so late. For whatever reason he was the only one, who had any concerns regarding that.

"I am not a kid!" the pink-haired girl clenched her fists. "I'm 18!" Yuki crossed her arms, receiving a grin from Frank. "Sure, sure." He shrugged his shoulders, checking the battery level on his camera. "Mr. West, she's speaking the truth." Miki was done packing her back, as she tested a flashlight.

"Wait what?" Frank nearly choked out as he took some few glances at Yuki, who was pouting her lips out by now. "It's true. Yuki-chan is the second oldest of us. After me." Yuuri smiled, folding her hands behind her back.

Frank was left with an odd feeling of numbness and surprise.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that. It just based from your size and all. You don't look like a typical 18-year-old."

"Hihi! It's Uki!"

"Senpai, do you mean OK? Uki is the sound of monkeys."

"Miki-kun! Don ruin it for me!" Yuki whispered, to which Miki sighed at.

"All right, are we ready to go?" Yuuri spoke rather loudly with her soft voice, as Taromaru ran to her side.

"Hai!" all the girls answered in choir.

Growling moans could be heard from the other side of the barricade. Yuki shrugged as she hid behind Yuuri, everyone else remained quiet. Kurumi stepped silently forward before crawling beneath one of the tables. Turning on the flashlight, she waved to the others to follow.

She turned to the low groaning deeper within the hallway as she tightened her grip on the shovel. By now the purple-haired girl was already used to the stench of rotten flesh and blood. And the low mindless groans of _them_ … as long as she kept her mind blank, there was nothing to worry about. _Don't look… don't remember._

One by one the other girls crawled through the barricade, proceeding with the utmost care. Taromaru didn't bark for once as he ran through the lower tables, looking at Frank with glossy puppy eyes.

Nodding, Frank followed the path of the dog, and within moments he was joined with the girls.

Kurumi turned to others, signaling that she would run off ahead. After exchanging glances, she began to run into the unknown. A sinking feeling emerged in Frank's stomach. Letting a child run off like that left a bad taste in his mouth. Sure, she had mastered the arts of the shovel but how could she survive a horde of zombies?

Some principles, these girls had.

Growing restless, Frank was about to go after Kurumi when a hand caught his sleeve. Miki shook her head, sending him a reassuring but worryingly weak smile afterwards. She wanted him to have faith.

In the darkness, the repeated sound of bones being broken, loud beastly groans and flesh being chewed upon haunted the hallways. But it seemed that they were relatively far away, enough for the group to move undetected.

"Clear!" Kurumi called from the darkness, waving her flashlight. Frank sighed in relief.

"All right, everyone. Here's the plan. Miki-san?" Yuuri looked to the blonde, who pulled a larger piece of paper, unfolding it. "Kurumi-chan, lights please." Kurumi flashed her light on the sheet of paper, which revealed a map. "We are here. And the destination is here." The brunette drew two rings and a line connecting the two. "We'll be picking up some few things there and then retreat back here. Oh and one more thing; _never_ walk alone."

"Mr. West, I would like you to go with Miki. Kurumi, Yuki and I will be toge-"

"No!" Yuki abruptly interrupted. "I want to go with Mr. Frank. Then we can take pictures together!" she waved her arms, in colorful illustration, somewhat earning a smirk from Frank. Maybe he would get a good scoop and some giggles out of this. "Ssshh! Sure, just keep quiet Yuki-chan!" Kurumi hushed before she looked at Frank, "Are you ok with that?" she spoke lowly.

Frank had little protests; after all, he felt it was only fair to be the adult here. "Fine by me." Frank shrugged his shoulders. Yuuri looked less than thrilled, yet she tried to maintain a gentle smile. "All right," she finally said, her voice a bit strained "if that is what you want, then be it. Just promise me, you'll be careful."

"Hai!" Yuki saluted.

The layout of the second floor was much like the third. It really didn't surprise Frank. Miki, Yuki and Taromaru were as silent as the grave. They continued maneuvering between obstacles, some of it bloodied. Yuki clutched Miki's backpack, hiding her face as the blonde guided the way.

It was chilly, the four suddenly noted as all windows here had been broken and the cool of the night chilled the bones. Droplets of water began to fall from the heavens, carried inside of the broken windows by sudden breezes. Even through the dark sky, even darker cloud hovered above Megurigaoka. It looked like it would rain soon. Seeing the calm before the storm, Miki lead the group into a library for a pause.

She closed the door behind them before warming her arms with her hands.

"Let's stay here for a bit and get some warmth."

"What about the others?" Frank shrugged his shoulders as he turned on the night vision on his camera and snapped some few shots. The library was surprisingly intact compared to the rest of the school. "Me too!" Yuki jumped in between one of the shots, the image resulting in a pink-haired girl awkwardly trying to pose in the last minute.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I just wanted to have fun!"

"Senpai…" Miki sighed. Taromaru, the little pup casually crept closer to her, albeit wary of the blonde. Miki reached out for him, her voice shifting tone into the sugary sweet. "Taromaru, come on boy." she kneeled before the dog, her hands coming closer.

The dog quickly turned around, hastily running towards Frank before hiding between his ankles. He looked up, the night vision highlighted its glossy eyes.

"Taromaru really likes you!"

"Huh, is that so?" Frank was no dog-expect but it wondered him _how_ Taromaru could possibly like him by now. Granted, there was nothing wrong with that. "Nice though." Frank kneeled down, patting the dog.

Just for the heck of it, he snapped a photo of the puppy. The battery level on the camera was still fairly high, but initially he had hoped to get some necessities including an extra battery. Just in case. There was still a lot that needed to be uncovered after all. Details were important for any big story.

Miki glanced at the dog and the man, her mood was less than good because of the spectacle. _Not this time, either…_

"Cover me, Rii-san!" Kurumi sprinted forward as she hovered her shovel above her head, ready to strike. The impact launched the zombie backward, its head flying off from the neck where the shovel connected. The horrid smell of rotten smell and blood was stronger than ever as more zombies emerged from the depth of the dark.

Yuuri, elegantly and quickly stabbed another one right in the back of the head, the blood splattered on her beige sweater but she was unfazed by such gore. Right now, the only thing that mattered was to survive.

Outside the rain fell down harder than ever, washing away the closest crimson stains. Thunderous sounds could be heard in the distance, loud, booming sound apparently creeping closer.

A bright flash, lightning struck through the clouds.

"Run, Kurumi-chan!" Yuuri called out, moments before a sudden explosive burst erupted from above them. It came from the rooftop. "Shit, it can't be!" Kurumi cursed in her breath. "We need to find the others-"

The lamps in the hallway blinked all of a sudden before being turned fully on. And then shutting off.

"What the… damn, Rii-san, what's going on?" the two girls quickly made way for their friends. Loud roars followed the girls, as the zombies lay their dead eyes upon them, hastily beginning to chase them. Despite them being mindless beings with limited coordinating skills, they were annoyingly agile and fast.

"I don't know." Yuuri frantically answered as she followed her schoolmate. The pair quickly made their way to the restrooms, almost jumping inside of the room before locking it. A few dead hands began to knock on the door, senseless voices moaned in frustration.

The restroom was covered in blood, the toilets, the sinks and the broken mirrors was all covered in crimson. The lights began to flicker as Yuuri turned on the switch.

"It is as I feared." She mumbled to herself. _Yuki-chan…_

"Rii-san. Can I ask you something?" Kurumi slumped down the door. "Hmm?" Yuuri refrained from cleansing the bloodstains on her sweater. "I was just… Yuki-chan said that you were mad, earlier today and I-"

" _There is nothing wrong!_ " Yuuri abruptly interrupted. "Nothing is wrong." She repeated, there was an odd smile on her face. "Kurumi-chan. No need to worry." The brunette wrapped the sweater, releasing the last droplets of blood


	4. Chapter 4

"Smoke! Hurry, let's get out of here!" Miki headed for the door, as Yuki, Taromaru and Frank followed her. Through the ventilation, a cloud of smoke came. The blonde almost ripped the door open!

However, a hellish horde of zombies stood in the way. "Son of a bitch!" Frank cussed under his breath. There was no way around them without getting bitten.

A flash struck through the dark night, illuminating the silhouettes of the zombies. Taromaru suddenly barked, jumping in front of the woman as he barked louder and catching the attention of the zombies. The walking dead got distracted as they stared mindlessly at the little dog. As they slowly dragged their rotten bodies to circle the dog, Frank, Miki and Yuki got the chance to escape. Through the darkness, Frank managed to get a few snaps of a horde of zombies and the little puppy, running between their legs to safety.

Afterwards they all ran, as the lightning continued to strike through the clouds.

"Rii-san, ready?" Kurumi asked, taking a firm grip on her shovel. Yuuri nodded as she swung her wet sweater over her shoulder "Let's go!" she said before pushing the door open. As the brunette stepped out, she did not realize that something was heading straight for her.

It was too late for Yuuri to realize that before that something ran right into her! Within moments, she tumbled down on the ground with a pink-haired girl landing right on her chest!

"Ouch! Ugh…" Yuuri grunted, rubbing her head. "…Rii-san?" a young girl's voice said, as she looked up from Yuuri's breasts. "Yuki-chan?!" the brunette exclaimed in a mixture of surprise and relief. Frantic, Miki confronted them "We don't have time for this! We got to-"

A lightning bolt struck the building again, this time it was closer as a bright flash suddenly appeared and the thick smoke became stronger. Quickly, Yuuri got up from the floor and grabbed Yuki's hand. In the distance, the growling of zombies loudened.

"The school is on fire. We have to get outa here!" Yuuri shouted, shocking her fellow school mates.

Letting the girls run first, Frank took the rear party. He could smell the rotten flesh of the horde a few feet behind him

"Head for the staff room! Megu-nee's car keys should be there!" Yuuri called out the others, heading for the stairs. "Yuki-chan, jump!" she said as she embraced the little girl and jumped down the stairs. However, the jump was crashed as the two of them tumbled on the ground with Yuuri cringing in pain.

"Rii-san! Yuuki-chan!" Kurumi frantically headed for her friends, her eyes flickering with worry. "Son of bitch! She twisted her ankle!" she turned to Yuuri. As Yuki heard the words, she quickly sat up, tears filling her eyes. "Rii-san! Rii-san! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!" she took the brunette's hand.

"Senpai, it wasn't your fault. Please calm down." Miki touched the pink-haired girl's shoulder. "But we need to go now!"

Hearing the commotion, the horde of walking dead approached the group.

"I hold them off while you get Yuuri to safety!" Kurumi jumped up, heading for the horde with incredible speed as she swung her shovel, cutting a head right of. Unrazed by the decapitation she continued as heads literally rolled around her. "Back off, rotten meat bags!"

"Kurumi-chan! Don't scold them!" Yuki sobbed.

Quickly, Frank managed to get Yuuri on his back, though the girl was reluctant. Miki and Yuki called out for Kurumi, who was well covered by blood. Indifferent to the gore around her, she ran to her friends accompanying them as they ran to the staff room. "Last door on your right." Yuuri lowly said, tightening her arms around Frank's head. She shrugged a bit, deep in thought. To carry her was a noble gesture, though she was still so unsure whether to trust him or not. Ulterior motives or not, Frank saved her and kept Yuki safe. For now, she decided to put a little trust in him.

The staff room was a mess. All windows were broken, allowing the rain to pour in. blood was splattered all over the walls, the floor and the broken tables. A white cracked vase with flowers long foregone stood lonely on one of the tables next to another table with a familiar name on a blood splattered name plate.

"Megumi Sakura." It said.

Frank felt shivers run down his spine. So this was the reason why these girls were all alone. Finding a chair, that was broken, he placed Yuuri on it. The brunette delayed her reaction a bit before uttering "Thank you." nonchalantly before giving an insecure smile. Frank did not think much of it, right now was not the time to worry about animosity.

"Megu-nee, you should really clean your desk more often. " Yuki said as she walked over and took the vase over to a sink. She filled it with water and returned to the table with a big smile. "You're welcome." She said. For a brief moment, Frank wondered how the world looked through Yuki's eyes.

Were the corpses still human? Was all the destruction undone? How much terror did a mind had to be subjected to before it was as broken as Yuki's?

The photographer decided to look around for some information. At least he could find some clues for what happened to the school. Miki had apparently found something as she stood with her back turned to the three others. Opening her backpack, she put something in it. Curious, Frank turned to her.

"Here it is." Kurumi said, getting everyone's attention, holding a car key. She smiled widely. "Mr. West, can you drive?" She turned to Frank.

"I can do much more than that. I've covered wars, y'know." Frank said, earning a stare of admiration from Yuki. For a brief moment, he felt a bit flattered.

"Good. We should hurry to the parking lot." Kurumi tossed the keys Frank.

Growing wary, Yuuri joined the conversation. "But where to go?"

"There should be a bunker, around here..." Frank said as he took Yuuri on his back again.

"What? Where are we going? I don't want to leave school!" Yuki pouted her lips.

"We're, uhm, going for a trip." Miki tried to sound reassuring. Right now, Yuki had to be spared from the truth.

Luckily, most of the zombies had invaded the school so the parking lot was less horded than expected. Though the zombies had surrounded the few remaining cars.

"Ok. Yuki, tell me which car is Megumi's." Frank asked the pink-haired girl.

Eagerly the pink-haired girl pointed at a small red car located on the far end of the parking lot. "Ok." Kurumi took charge "Mr. West, behind me. Yuki-chan, Miki-san, cover him from behind me! We'll be going in a straight line!" she grabbed her shovel, ready to defend and attack.

A zombie suddenly stepped into their path, moaning lowly. Even though they had lost most of what made them human, the memory of that time made shivers run down Kurumi's spine. She shrugged, closing down for all empathy embodied within her. Right now, she needed to feel nothing. She swung her shovel, effectively chopping the zombie down. It fell to the ground, hitting the concrete so hard, its rotten skull cracked and odorous brain matter flooded out on the ground.

Yuki shrieked and Miki cringed by the stench, stopping dead in their tracks.

"You have to move, you two!" Kurumi urged, her pulse racing faster by the second. They had made it this far and they had to continue! The school was burning and they were forced out of their home, and now they had to move on. Biting her lip in frustration, Kurumi turned to her last resort. She hated to do this but there was no other way.

"Yuki-chan. You have to move on! Megu-nee is waiting!" Kurumi called out, fulling incredibly guilty as the pink-haired girl's eyes looked up, teary and frightened.

"Megu-nee? Megu-nee!" She screamed louder, pushing away Miki who tried to comfort her. The blonde fell on her rump, her eyes widening with horror. "Senpai, no!" the blonde called out, absolutely petrified. "Yuki-chan!" Yuuri screamed on top of her lungs, caught in absolute terror. The pink-haired girl ran towards the red car as her tiny frame disappeared into to the horde of undead.

"Son of a bitch! We got to follow her!" Frank cursed under his breath. This was the absolute worst case scenario. He had survived two outbreaks and helped countless others survive, how could he fail now? He was about to sprint into the pits of hell when he stopped, completely frozen.

"Kyaaaa!" A blood-curdling scream almost stopped the hearts of Taromaru, Frank, Yuuri, Miki and Kurumi who all refused to believe what they heard. A scream belonging to a pink-haired girl that made their blood run cold. Kurumi fell to her knees as her muscles had gone numb. She failed Yuki, she made her run into Death's cold embrace.

"Fuck!" She slammed a fist down the concrete. The horde had left them in favor for _that_ scream but it did not change the fact that she was at fault. She wanted to cry; she wanted to rewind time, just something that could prevent this from happening!

The unthinkable had been realized.


	5. Chapter 5

Yuki was gone and Kurumi was to blame for it. She clenched her fists around the shovel as tears threatened to expose themselves under her eyelids. **_Dammit, Dammit!_**

"Yuki-chan…" Yuuri looked down, resting her head on Frank's back. Miki looked equally distraught and her entire body was shaking. Between her legs stood Taromaru.

Frank bit his lip, internally wishing hell upon whoever was responsible for this outbreak. Who could be so heartless to doom the world and humanity itself? He had survived several apocalypses but never before had he borne witness to the death of a child. Words could not describe the guilt, eating away at him.

"…We have to move." He said with a heavy heart, seeing the zombies flocking to the spot where Yuki spent her final moments. Kurumi stood up, her eyes had grown dark. Frank was right, no matter how hurtful that was. The pigtailed girl got ready to sprint and quickly, she sprinted towards the horde of undead.

It doesn't matter. Don't feel. Just survive. You messed up,

With tears in her eyes, she continued to slaughter zombie after zombie. Heads rolled past her, foul blood splattered her uniform but she continued. If not for herself at least for Yuki.

Payback for how fucked up this was. The reality had always nagged her to no end, yet she had ignored it all for so long. Until that day where she found the school living club, she always walked in a fog of dread. That day, she found people who meant the world to her when she initially thought that she was forever alone. And now, it was ruined.

Yuuri could feel Kurumi's pain. She clenched her fist in Frank's shirt, tugging herself behind his back, hiding her tears. She felt so useless. She had failed miserably, she failed to protect the one person who meant so much to her.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Kurumi yelled, ignoring how furious her voice was. The undead lay around her in piles as she panted heavily.

"Kurumi-senpai…" Miki looked away, the tears rolling down her cheek. How could this be? She promised she wouldn't fail again. Not after losing her.

The group headed towards the car, the atmosphere was heavy and tense. Soon they neared Megumi's car and Frank fetched for the key after leaving Yuuri to Miki. A sudden blast emerged from the school gate, setting everything nearby ablaze. Walking dead fell to the ground, engulfed in flames, like someone had attacked them with a flamethrower.

"What the…?" Frank raised an eyebrow as he gazed upon the inferno. he thought he might have seen things but soon became sure that what he saw was real. In the fiery light, a figure came running towards the parking lot. Kurumi stood ready as Frank quickly unlocked the car and ordered the girls to take a seat. Taking the driver's seat, Frank quickly managed to start the car, internally groaning over the cramped space.

The photographer soon got the little red car up and running. "Let's get out of here. " he gritted his teeth.

"Why?" Yuuri almost whispered from the backseat as she glared at Frank. He turned around, greeted by glaring green eyes. She clenched her fist as she hissed her words. "It's your fault." The tears prickled behind her eyes, finally releasing themselves as they ran down her cheeks. Miki jumped in "Rii-san. It's no-"

"Stay out of this, Miki." The brunette leered. Taromaru yapped with worry from Yuuri's lap.

"If you didn't come along, Yuki would still be here!"

Frank heard her words, taking them all in without talking back. Deep within himself, he could feel those words hitting something vulnerable inside. Frank never saw himself as heartless but he believed that he was a master masking his feelings. All for the sake of survival. But now, he felt those words stinging inside. Inside his heart, perhaps?

Somebody knocked on the window, startling all the passengers. Kurumi grabbed her shovel, ready to spring out and attack.

"P-please help me!" a desperate voice called out. A man stood with long black hair falling around his ash-covered face. His clothes were tattered and partly burned. He looked bewildered, knocking on the car window. He held something black in his other hand, something that caught the eye of Miki.

Without hesitation, the blonde opened the door and moved herself to the middle seat. "What are you doing, Miki-" Kurumi began before laying eyes on the item in the young man's hand. Shaking like a freezing dog, he thanked Miki profusely, going as far as to take his hands in her own. He was a neurotic mess, shaking nervously as he tried to flash a meek smile.

"You're welcome." Miki said, not sure what to feel right now. "Where did you get that?" Yuuri jumped into the conversation, her eyes fixated on the black hat in the man's hand, who nervously moved his lips.

"I-I found it after-after a little girl dropped it-"

"Where is she?" Miki demanded as she grabbed the collar of the man's jacket, staring intently into his eyes.

Frank followed the conversation from the driver's seat, taking a sharp turn to the right as they drove. The streets were eerily empty, splattered with bloodstains and bludgeoned corpses.

"I-I-I don't know! I'm so-sorry!" the young man fumbled through his words, his entire being shaking with anxiety. "Miki, leave him alone." Kurumi commanded much to the displease of the blonde. "Senpai, he has-"

"Let it go." The pigtailed girl turned around, facing the anxious man. "Can I have that hat?" she meekly smiled, as the man seemed to calm down and gave her the black hat. "Thanks." Kurumi said and introduced herself. "Kurumi Ebizusawa." She reached out her hand.

The man's eyes lightened up with glee, eagerly taking Kurumi's hand. "Paul Carson!" he said with excitement. Yuuri remained silent, her eyes focusing on the black hat in Kurumi's hand.

"Uhm… whe-where are we heading?" Paul asked as he gazed nervously around him. "The safe house." Frank simply said. We should be there soon.

The light flickered, irritating the eye of Isabela. But she ignored it. In her hands was a blanket, she lay gently over the little pink-haired girl who slept peacefully on the couch. It looked terribly uncomfortable but it seemed like it sufficed for the young girl. Isabela grabbed a chair and sat next to her, watching her from afar. Amazingly, the little girl managed to stay completely unharmed when Isabela stumbled upon her.

"Megu-nee…" the pink haired girl spoke tiredly as she opened her pink eyes. As Isabela prepared to stand up, a small hand reached out for her. "Don't leave, Megu-nee." Her pink eyes teared up as she begged. Isabela had wondered who this 'Megu-nee' was. When the pink haired girl had lay eyes on her, she mistook the woman for this person, latching on to her with desperation as she cried her heart out. This child had suffered greatly, losing someone dear to her and somehow Isabela saw herself in her.

"Someone is watching over you from above. Pachamama."

Isabela couldn't just leave. And it was not because she wanted to either. To leave a helpless, traumatized child alone like this was a heartless act to perform and Isabela could not dream of committing such a heinous sin. But she believed that if humanity had any chances of surviving the outbreak, she needed to go. She needed to correct the errors she had done. For now, the child had to be alone once more.

"Little one. I have to go for a while, ok?" she stroked the pink locks as the bewildered eyes calmed down. "Promise you won't leave me again. Promise me that, Megu-nee." The girl pleaded.

"I promise."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: It's been a while since I played the first game, so sorry if I got some location wrong.**

"All right folks, here the plan." Frank began. "I'll be taking you girls to somewhere safe and you, Paul. You're going to help me get some recourses."

"Ok, if you say so." Paul nodded, shaking a bit. Kurumi, however, was not pleased. The pigtailed girl turned to Frank. "No way I'm gonna sit back with a thumb up my butt. I got a bone to pick with these damn rotten meatballs!" she hissed. If she could, she would have stood up in the car.

Frank scoffed, nearing the Willamette Parkview Mall. "Sorry. You ain't going anywhere!" the parking lot seemed empty, much to the joy of Frank as he neared the entrance. Miki frowned "Senpai is right, Mr. West. We can help each other. So why not?"

"Because and I hate to rub salt in the wound, you just lost one of your friends. It didn't make my day any brighter either, so I'd like to avoid getting all of you killed. End of discussion." He truly sounded like an overbearing dad.

"Well too bad, you're not the boss of me!" Kurumi stuck her tongue out, crossing her arms over her chest, as she glanced out the window. Yuuri sighed, rubbing her forehead.

As expected zombies had invaded the mall. Frank snapped a few pictures of the chaos, as the haunting mall music ran in the background. Casual and soothing, a staggering contrast to the disorder that had fallen upon humanity.

Behind him was Miki, struggling to support Yuuri, who had remained awfully quiet. Taromaru ran next to Kurumi, who steadily followed Frank through the infected mall. Paul followed the group, nervously looking over his shoulder whenever he heard something suspicious. By now he was a shaking mess. Kurumi could not help but notice. Still sour, she took the rear party, her shovel firmly placed in her hands. Occasionally Frank would glance at her; she looked really angry. And sorrowful at the same time. He felt like saying something to ease this tension. Or perhaps patting her head to make her feel better. It was hard to see her so remorseful of something out of her control like Yuki's demise.

But not now. For the sake of everyone's survival, Frank had to ignore it and continue on. For now, he needed to go on without looking back.

Miki glanced down at the Leisure Park, silently gasping as another horde of zombies wandered aimlessly around. She stopped – caught up by the past as she continued to stare down. It reminded her of Kei.

"Miki-san?" Yuuri asked as she called the blonde back to the present. "We have to get going." Miki nodded. It was meaningless to keep dwelling in the past, no matter how much she wished to change it. So many things she could have done otherwise but it made no point to dwell upon it endlessly.

A sudden sound echoed through the entire mall, the sound of broken glass. The group stopped dead in their tracks as they watched from afar. Two men, one of them frantically screaming with a horde of walking dead behind them. "Don't scream like that or they'll keep following you!" the oldest of them said, surprisingly fit for a man his age.

Frank turned to his group, holding his camera. "We need to help them. Miki, stay here with Yuuri-"

"I'm sick and tired of your stupid orders!" Kurumi cut in, setting foot on the ledge before jumping down. She landed loudly on the grassy ground, as the zombies turned to her, and began moving towards her. However, the pigtailed girl paid no mind to it, letting out a warrior's roar before swiftly swinging her shovel and decapitating the nearest zombies. No matter how impressive it may had looked, Kurumi was still only one girl against an army of zombies. Yet she seemed so confident in her abilities, unfazed as blood and brain matter sprayed all over her white uniform. Soon her hands and shovel were covered in human remains but she marched on regardless.

"Hey! Shit…" Frank cursed under his breath. "Yuuri, Miki, Paul. Stay here!" he commanded as he headed towards the escalator, running the down the stairs. He already lost one girl and he could not afford to lose another one.

"Stay away, gramps! I got it under control!" Kurumi shouted, quickly ignoring the growing exhaustion wearing down her body. She felt less coordinated, feeling her strength slipping away with every hit. But she had to continue.

And then she slipped.

In a pool of blood, Kurumi's entire being lost its balance as everyone stared in horror.

"Kurumi-senpai!" Miki cried out. Paul stood frozen, his eyes widened behind his round glasses.

"Kurumi-chan!" Yuuri ripped herself loose from Miki's grip, fully running to the escalator. Ignoring the sharp pain shooting through her leg from her ankle. But she ran, pushing Frank aside before the journalist had any chance of stopping her.

In a matter of moments, the situation had evolved from bad to worse.

Yuuri only had eyes for her precious friend, her green eyes shooting lightning when a zombie grabbed her arm. Glaring with a deathly stare, she yanked her arm free, though she lost her beige sweater in the process. The zombie moaned, with the shirt in hand and Yuuri ran towards Kurumi.

"Kurumi-chan, are you ok?" She asked with worry, checking every part of Kurumi's body for injuries. "Rii-san?" the pigtailed girl asked, as soon as her mind regained focus. The older man cut their reunion brief, storming towards the girls "What are you two doing? Get outta there!" As a zombie approached the girls, the man hit it hard with a frying pan, sending the corpse flying. He turned to Yuuri and Kurumi, shooting them a scolding glare. The man then eyed Frank and the others on the first floor.

"Go back up and wait for us there."

There was something about the level of control in his voice that made the two girls follow his exact orders. Even Kurumi, who grabbed Yuuri and quickly headed to the escalator. Frank stood in awe but quickly regained his composure as he continued down the escalator.

He would remember to thank this old man for bringing some sense into Kurumi.

The two men quickly, ascended the escalator while Miki got a bright idea. A fire extinguisher hanging on a wall nearby caught her eye and the blonde quickly ran over to get it. Using one of the flashlights from the test of courage, she smashed the glass and grabbed the apparatus.

 _Senpai would be so impressed_. Miki smiled with melancholy at the thought of a petite pink-haired girl with wide eyes, staring at her underclassman who swiftly blew zombies on their feet. As the old man had told them, Kurumi and Yuuri returned to the group with the two men right behind them. But the zombies had caught wind of their movement, slowly but surely ascending the escalator.

Quick on her feet, Miki took the extinguisher and sent a horde of living corpses flying down in big bundles, coloring them in white. However, the white soon changed to a reddish brown as zombies crashed down, some of their limbs snapping in the process.

To say that Frank was proud would be an understatement; he was very much so as well as surprised. The blonde took the apparatus under her arm and quickly headed back to her group, having a small smirk on her lips.

"Nicely done." The older man looked down at the park as more undead came to inspect the ruckus before he turned to Frank. "Good to see you again." He said, giving an approving nod.

"You too, Otis." The photographer greeted back as the group followed Otis.

"Looks like we're going to double up the resources. Follow me."

"Great, I was about to head there myself."

Yuuri grew curious. "Are there more survivors? How many?" a glimmer of hope had risen within her. Maybe that was a chance that Yuki-chan was alive.

"Not many." Otis sighed, leading the group through the mall. "Without the lot of you, it's just me and the kid over here."

The younger man, Joe, waved anxiously.

All the stores were still open with all of their items

Joe, Paul and Miki took the rear party, Paul saw this as an opportunity to strike up a conversation. He had always taken a liking into Miki; her calm nature had attracted him the most.

"S-so. That sure was cool. I mean, uh, the fire extinguisher-thing." He tried to flash a smile, though it only emerged as a nervous grimace. However, Miki took kindly to the compliment; although she was surprised by the sudden comment. She did not remember any boys having interest in her so the idea was foreign to her, yet she toyed with the idea of a high school crush.

"Thank you." The blonde smiled, now realizing how tired she was. She gazed out of one of the windows, noticing the dawning sunrise above the mall.

"How much of it do you have left?" Otis asked once he was sure no one really listened. Frank yawned "One left." He clutched the package, well hidden in his pocket. His nerves irked as he felt the cardboard fabric against the skin of his fingertips.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Edited and rewritten so it makes sense. Haha, kinda ironic that I personally hate things that lack logic and plot holes, yet I made one myself. Oh the irony. Anyhoo, enjoy!**

"Megu-nee!" Yuuki cheerfully jumped to Isabela's side, wrapping her thin arms around the woman's waist. "I've missed you, Megu-nee!"

Isabela patted the head covered in pink hair; watching with a sorrowful smile as Yuki's eyes hardened by the sight of a stranger. Carlito entered the room, observing his sister and the little girl. The sight reminded him of peaceful times in Santa Cabaza, his expression growing sour as he remembered what the Americans had done.

Curious, Yuki wandered over to him, large pink eyes observing the man. Suddenly a wide smile appeared on her face as she bowed "Pleased to meet you! I'm Yuki Takaya~!"

"The pleasure is all mine. Carlito is my name." The man kneeled and smiled at the little girl, amused and surprised by his sister's decision to take her in. He stood up; the smirk still plastered on his lips. "I should not disturb you any longer, Megu-nee."

"Megu-nee?" Yuki asked, glued to Isabela's waist "You never told me you had a husband." She continued as innocently as Isabela almost choked on air. "No, he is my brother." With those spoken words, the pink-haired girl's eyes widened with excitement, continuously shifting between Carlito and Isabela.

"You have a brother?" her attention shifted to Carlito as she let go of the woman's waist. She was ecstatic, to say the least. "Megu-nee's big brother…" Yuki tiptoed towards Carlito. "Can I call you Carlo-nii?" She almost whispered. Amused by the petite girl's request, Carlito simply nodded, patting her head. A young child's innocence always brought a smile on his lips.

"Hihi. Thank you, Carlo-nii." The pink-haired girl blushed with a shy smirk on her face. However, that smile on her face died down to confusion as Carlito was about to make his departure.

"Wait, where are you going?" Isabela narrowed her eyes.

"I need to take care of something."

"Carlo-nii! Let me come with you!" Yuki now glued herself to Carlito's waist, squeezing hard. Despite her small frame, she withheld an incredible amount of strength.

"Megu-nee. Take care of her while I'm gone." Isabela cringed by the mentioning of her new nickname by her brother. She simply nodded as Yuki refused to let go of Carlito's waist. It would appear that she had to force the little girl to let go.

"No, I wanna go with Carlo-nii! Maybe we can find Rii-san, Kurumi-chan and Miki-kun so he can go meet them! Oh, and Taromaru too!" A sudden realization hit her.

"And Mr. West! He's a photographer. I'm sure, you'll like him. Maybe you two can get married!"

"Little one." Isabela pleaded, getting up to pull apart the two. She ignored the incoming thoughts of her and Frank married. Her imagination had always been vivid. Shivers ran down her spine as the realistic images of Frank and herself in wedding gowns. Not to mention, his indirect connection to these recent outbreaks.

"Carlito is busy." She sighed. But Yuki refused to let go, squeezing harder. "Megu-nee, don't be so strict! I'm legal aged; I'm not a kid anymore." She pouted her lips.

Carlito turned his head in surprise. "Wait, how old are you?"

"18 years old, Carlo-nii~."

"What?" Isabela's jaw almost dropped to the floor, and so did Carlito. "No. it can't be. "He uttered in complete disbelief. Finally, Yuki let go, nodding her head.

"Yup!"

The siblings stared at each other before Carlito broke the silence. "You are rather small for your age."

"There's a reason why I call her 'little one'." Isabela cleared her throat. Yuki pouted her lips "Can I come with you now, Carlo-nii."

Carlito blinked as he continuously eyed the pink-haired girl. Still seeing her as a young child, he found it hard to comprehend and connect her physical age and her chronological age.

"No. Out of the question." His face hardened as he turned around, flashing his back to the little girl. "But Carlo-nii!"

"You are still very young." He simply said, departing from the room without ever glancing back. Carlito's plans were very near completion. Perhaps, when all his work was done, he would oblige to the girl's request. Someday, she would understand. And she would see the world like he did.

The food rations were currently low and it worried Yuuri, considering that they now were six mouths to feed including a dog. She grabbed a notebook from her bag and proceeded to write everything in storage down. Hopefully, the others would bring back lots of rations. By her feet, Taromaru curled up, whimpering.

"I know you miss Yuki. We all do." The brunette sighed, stroking the soft fur of the dog.

"Rii-san. How much do we need?" Miki asked as she approached her upperclassman. Her backpack was firmly strapped to her back and in her hands was the fire extinguisher. Quickly, Yuuri compiled another list and handed it to the blonde.

"A lot. We are many mouths to feed."

"What are you two girls doing?" Otis closed in on the conversation as well, causing Yuuri to shrug by his presence.

"I'm just checking how much food we have."

Otis seemed impressed, giving Yuuri approving looks as he turned to Miki. "And you are heading out?"

"Yes, sir." The blonde paused "Mr. West, Paul and Joe are heading to the nearest grocery store to pick up some few things and I will be joining them."

"Are you really ready for that?"

"Sir, if I may… you are, despite your fantastic skill, an elderly man. Where I come from, it's the norm to take care and respect our elders."

Otis shook his head, smiling. He patted the blonde's shoulder. "Now that is something you don't hear every day. But seriously, don't worry about me. I may be old but I've survived in this hellhole for a lot longer than you could imagine."

"Oh. Is that so?" Miki was surprised.

Frank walked in on the group, his camera in hand. It appeared that he had been snapping some few pictures. Behind him was Kurumi. "Don't exclude me from the action!" she pouted. She reminded Miki too much of Yuki. Frank shook his head "Can't change your mind, can I?" the photographer turned to Miki "We are going out."

Expecting a remark from Otis, she quickly looked at him for his approval. She found it rather strange for he to be doing that, considering that she had barely known the man. But somehow, being with all these people gave her a sense of security.

Like the rest of the mall, the store, Seon's Food & Stuff was eerily vacant. Blood was splattered all over the floors, the shopping carts and even some of the items. It looked like a slaughterhouse. Yet, there were no macabre bodies to be seen. With cautious steps, Frank, Paul, Miki, Kurumi and Joe entered the store.

Luckily no zombies were around, oddly it was after some afterthought. Regardless, the stench of death still lingered heavily in the air. Paul was at his most nervous, his hands shaking profusely. He crept closer to Kurumi, who was more felt more of her personal space being violated as the group ventured forward. The silence was uncanny; one could hear a pin fall to the floor.

After a while of agonizingly tense moments, Frank ensured the group that everything was safe. The plan was to grab anything useful and then get out. Eager, Paul began grabbing glass bottles, clothes and some sort of liquid. Meanwhile, Miki proceeded to stuff her bag with food, both canned and fresh. Rii-san would be most delighted when they returned. Kurumi and Frank decided to pick up medicine, including a small package that Frank was very insistent on bringing with him while Joe was meant to stand guard, in case of hostilities decided to show up.

The sound of a shopping cart approaching, quickly alarmed the group. Frantically, everyone stood perfectly still where they were. Grabbing her shovel, Kurumi slowly but steadily approached the incoming noise. Her hands tightened their grip around the shaft. However before she could proceed any further, Frank grabbed her shoulder, keeping her in place.

"What are you doing?" she mouthed, pushing Frank's hand away. Of all the times for him to be intervening, he just had to do it now. The photographer shook his head at her, urging her to stay put. Kurumi gritted her teeth as she complied with the older man's orders, cursing internally.

Everyone held their breath as nerves were on the edge.

A man, who appeared to be working in the store suddenly appeared. Miki could relax. Thank goodness, another survivor. She was about to approach him when she lay eyes on his shopping cart. And her blood ran cold. It looked like an ordinary cart, except for several blades attached to it. Miki couldn't move, her eyes were fixated in the fresh blood on the sharp edges.

"I-I…" she began only to stop as her mind began to overwork and come up with a way of approaching him. Her entire body was paralyzed when the man looked at her and proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs.

"THIS IS MY STOOOOORE!"

Completely taken aback, Miki could only reply with a "What?" before she could react, the man grabbed a shotgun and opened fire on her. It took mere seconds for the blonde to realize what was about to unfold and her her instincts kicked in. However, before she could sprint away, she was pushed to the side.

"I DON'T TOLERATE VANDALISM IN MY STOOOOOREE!" he screamed!

What happened? Miki frantically pushed the person on top of her away.

"Are you all right?" A gruff voice asked.

"Huh? Yes, thank you." She opened her eyes, looking directly at a lanky man laying next to her. He bled profusely from a gunshot wound and Miki's eyes grew wide in horror.

"Ugh... that's good to hear." Joe lay flat on the ground, the blood pouring endlessly out of his body.

Quickly, Kurumi jumped to his side, looking over the damage. She cursed under her breath, pressing on the wound. The bleeding would not stop and it became eerily clear that Joe would not survive. A dark shadow crept over Kurumi's face as she thought of what to tell Miki.

"Kurumi-senpai. He saved my life..." Miki exclaimed, jumping on her feet when the store owner opened his lips again. Before Kurumi could even think to answer, she was interrupted by the owner again.

"I will not warn you again. No one gets away with vandalism IN MY STOOORE!"

This was getting way out of hand. Frank jumped to the girls' side. He watched in horror as life itself seemed to leave the man's eyes. In his lifetime, he had been witness to a lot of death and destruction and yet, right now, as he saw this man dying a painful death, he felt anguish creeping up at him. Miki looked at him with pleading eyes, silently begging for the inevitable to not happen.

"Sir!" he began, shaking off the dread. "We just wanted to get some supplies." Behind one of the isles, Paul was shaking uncontrollably, despite making a Molotov cocktail.

"That is just what all the other assholes said when they came to vandalize my store!" The store owner's eyes glared with such an intense fury as he crept closer to the group.

"Wait!" Frank reached for his pockets, praying that he found something. Anything. "We got money. We are here to buy stuff, okay? Look." he showed the few coins in his palm.

Now let's all calm down and-"

"What about that pussy hiding over there?" the store owner snarled, pointing his shotgun at Paul, who froze up.

"He-he's just shy, that's all!" Kurumi assured. But it was too late. Paul, as the nervous wreck he was, could no longer contain himself. He shook with anxiousness, letting put a cry of fear as he threw the cocktail towards the owner. His eyes widening as he shrieked. "I-I'm not a pussy!"

"Paul, you motherfu-" Miki snapped as the bomb explodes and everything was engulfed in flames.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank goodness for Frank's wrestling abilities otherwise, he and everyone else would have been burned to crisps. Although the fact that he was 6 years from his fifth decade on this earth was slowly but surely catching up with him. He crouched when he was absolutely sure that everyone was safe. Well, the ones who could be saved. He would like to avoid thinking about Joe, who died a painful death, burning and bleeding.

Before the flaming store stood a heartbroken Steven, tears running down his cheeks like waterfalls. Frank simply looked at him, the half-melted ID card in his hand.

"My store….!" He whimpered. "My sales…!"

A few feet away from Frank, stood Miki and Paul, the former was ready to kill someone. She held the fire extinguisher in her hands with tears running down her cheeks.

"Paul, you-why did you panic like that?" she said, her voice was a complete contrast to what her body language said. "Joe died… because of this."

"Son of a bitch, you nearly got us killed!" Kurumi hissed. She tightened her grip on the shovel. "Now where are we supposed to get food, huh? What in the hell are we supposed to tell Yuuri and Otis when we get back? Answe me please before I smack you!"

"I'm so-sorry!" Paul stammered, his body shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Girls, leave him alone." Frank grunted as he stood up. As happy as he was for everyone's safety, he did not like the fact that the commotion had attracted the attention of a lot of zombies. Not to mention that the entire mission had been a failure and had claimed the life of an ally. Behind him stood the trio of Paul, Miki and Kurumi, bickering.

The photographer turned to the trio. "People, now is not the time to be ripping your heads off. Zombies are on their way and unless you want to be bitten, I suggest we get out of here."

Miki nodded. Her cheeks were red from all the frustration but Frank's words calmed her down. Kurumi, however was not so easily forgiving. "What about the food? What about our crispy friend in there?"

Her words ignited something within Miki, who silently wept again.

"I…" Paul began. His eyes pleaded Frank for protection as Kurumi glared daggers at him. "Go on." Frank encouraged the teen.

"How am I supposed to get my store up and working?! Today, we were supposed to get new supplies…." The store owner whined and whimpered, down on all four.

"What? When, sir?" Miki approached the sobbing man. She kneeled before him, wiping the tears away. "We will pay for it, if that will-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Steve screamed on top of his lungs. "You... you RUINED MY STORE!" and promptly yanked the extinguisher out of her hands and blasted Miki away. "What the hell are you doing?" Frank jumped to Miki's side, grabbing her. He whipped off the citrate from her shoulders and asked "You ok?" Miki looked up at him, amazed and surprised of the heroic act. "Yes, I think. Thank you."

Having seen what Steven had done, Kurumi quickly stomped over to him, pointing the sharpest edge of her shovel between his eyes. "I really, really don't appreciate it when someone hurts my friend." Steve's eyes glared at her, not at all fazed by the threat before him. This was getting out of hand; the zombies were drawn to the noise and they were moving faster now, closing in on the group.

"Kurumi! Stop! We do not have time to be bickering like this." Frank grabbed the pigtailed girl by the arm and pointed towards the horde of undead coming their way. "Let's just see if we can find the supplies and get the hell out of here."

Kurumi swung her shovel towards the neck of a zombie, blood splattering on her clothes as the living dead fell to the ground. Behind her was Miki with the extinguisher, blowing the corpses off their feet, only for them to be shot in the head by Frank. They fell to the floor like flies as the group ventured on. It was a bloodbath to say the least; the horde growing in size as Paul was the first one to escape the mall. The teen looked frantically around the vacant parking lot with another Molotov cocktail in his hands. His heart raced through his chest as he walked with caution, looking for a vehicle with the same logo as Seon's Food and Stuff. Soon Miki came running behind him, panting heavily. Her skirt was splattered with blood as well as her blonde hair.

"Mi-Mikki. Are you ok? Where are the others?"

The blonde pointed at the entrance. "Frank pushed me outside and tried to do the same with Ku-"

A blood-curdling scream made shivers run down her spine. It was like time stopped. Paul and Kurumi stood frozen, as a terrible realization hit them both.

It was Kurumi.

There was a lot of chaos in the Willamette mall. Yuuri shocked as her nerves got the better off her. Taromaru squirmed in her lap, looking at her with worried dark eyes. It had been so long since they left and Yuuri was getting understandably worried. Otis noticed her distress as he sat down beside her, groaning loudly with every move he made.

"Are you all right, sir?" she stroked a lock behind her ear and Taromaru eagerly wagged his tail. The little dog crawled over Yuuri's lap over to Otis. The old man patted him.

"I should ask you the same thing. You look like someone about to have a nervous breakdown."

"Oh? Do I?" Yuuri touched her face. Her cheeks were burning.

Otis shook his head, laughing wholeheartedly.

"I understand your worries. They have been gone for some time but they're all young and fresh, except for Frank but that's beside the point."

He looked at her. "How's your ankle?"

"It hurts." Yuuri looked at her bandage-covered foot. It had swollen up by now, thanks to her impulsive action of running to Kurumi.

"I gotta say." Otis started. "You girls have been damn lucky. This outbreak has lasted for God knows how long and here you are, having survived for this long and on your own as well."

Guilt emerged in Yuuri's face as she looked away. "…We lost someone dear on the way." Tears pressed against her eyes when she felt Otis' hand on her shoulder. "Our teacher, Megumi-sensei. She was like a sister to us." The guilt choked her insides.

"And Yuki…" she could not hold back any longer. Droplets of salty tears fell from her face as Taromaru licked her hands, the little puppy wimping.

"I'm sorry." Otis said, sighing deeply. "This damn outbreak caused so much pain." He gritted his teeth. "The casualties are even higher this time around. Countless people are dying and many more are losing their friends and families.

Yuuri looked up, her tear-filled eyes wide with surprise. "What?"

"Ah yes, you probably haven't heard of it since it all a long time before you born. This is not the first outbreak."

"What? How is this possible?"

"I don't know. All I'm sure of is that there have been many outbreaks here and there. I may be old, but I sure as hell remember a lot."

Yuuri was speechless; she stared in disbelief. Was this really true? And it then hit her. Their school had been equipped and prepped with electricity, clean water and enough supplies to feed the school, thanks to the outdoor garden and most of the canned food, were more or less for the sanity of the School Living Club.

Somehow, it made sense to Yuuri. Maybe, the school had been preparing for another outbreak. Maybe, Megu-nee knew this.


	9. Chapter 9

"Shit!" Frank sprinted towards Kurumi, who was still screaming in agony. The pigtailed girl dropped her shovel as she stared back in horror at her leg; blood poured out from a gaping wound, surrounded by two rotten hands. The zombie groaned at the taste of her flesh. As it was about to gnaw at her leg again with its decaying teeth, Frank grabbed the zombie by what little hair it had and threw it towards another herd of undead. With teary eyes, Kurumi stared at him in disbelief as the photographer promptly grabbed her and carried her in his arms. But they were surrounded by walking corpses.

"Son of a bitch!" Frank cursed under his breath. He looked at the girl in his arms; her eyes stared back at him´, wide and worried with tears. Her skin was pale. The zombification was happening faster than anticipated. _Curses!_ He couldn't bear to lose another person.

Gunshots suddenly fired though the mall as a couple of zombies fell to the ground. Where did they come from?

"Ok, we have to get out of here." Frank said as more bullets rained from an unspecified location. The zombies were attracted to the noise, giving Frank and Kurumi enough time to escape. The photographer began running with the girl in his arms towards the exit. Blood dripped from the wounded leg as Kurumi tightened her grip on Frank's shoulders.

Whoever was shooting, Frank owed them his life.

"Wha-what-was that Kurumi?" Paul shook severely as he looked at Miki in utter disbelief.

"…It was." She took a quick breath. "Guard the sir. I'll go inside." She measured the amount of foam inside the extinguisher. There was not much left. This was all or nothing. The blonde ran up and sprinted towards the mall entrance. She had to be extra careful. As soon as she stepped inside the door, a zombie stood in her way. With a swift move, that she had copied from Kurumi, Miki battered the undead on its head and it fell over, sprawling on the ground. She continued like this with five other zombies.

Miki was never the athletic type so after a couple of beatdowns, she could feel the fatigue overtake her arms.

"Miki!" the blonde stopped dead in her tracks by the mentioning of her name. It was Frank. After one last attack against a lone undead, Miki saw him about 15 feet away from herself. At first, she was relieved yet her heart skipped a beat; her eyes grew as wide as teacups when she saw her upperclassman in the journalist's arms with blood pouring out of a wound.

Bullets then rang through the hall again from an uncertain angle. Frantic, Miki's eyes jolted to just about any possible direction.

"Miki!" Frank shouted again. "Get of here! Now!" He kneeled as another round of bullets came raining over the zombies. Miki shrugged; her better judgement compelled her to do as she was told but she could not just leave Kurumi and Frank either. The horde of zombies shrunk thanks to the unknown sniper, giving Frank enough time and space to sprint as fast as he could. His age was beginning to catch up with him but he disregarded all of that, pushing himself beyond his limit. With all of his remaining strength, he ran past the small horde of undead; past the smell of blood and rotten flesh. Once through the door, Frank collapsed on his knees, causing Kurumi to tumble on the ground. She was extremely pale, panting and clutching her neck in pain.

"Senpai!" Miki came running over to the group and kneeled before a pained Kurumi. Her hands were shaking with anxiety as her mind became blank. What was she to do?

"Miki!" Frank panted heavily, removing his glasses. "I need you to hold her."

The blonde looked flabbergasted. "Wait what? Why?"

"Just do it. You too, Paul!" The photographer adjusted a weak Kurumi, laying her on her back. "It…it hurts…!" the pigtailed girl whimpered. Frank shot her a worried glance before fishing through his pockets, where he retrieved a small package, labelled "Zombrex".

"Good thing, I eventually found this." he quickly opened the package and pulled out a syringe, much to Miki's curiosity.

"Wha-what is that?" the blonde narrowed her as she grabbed her upperclassman's hand and squeezed tightly.

"Something that's gonna halt the transformation." Frank jammed the needle into Kurumi's arm. At first she groaned in agony, withering with extreme pain. But after a while, she began to relax. Little by little her body calmed its movements and her skin slowly began to gain color. Taking a deep breath, Frank felt his nerves relax. At least, he had saved someone. He would almost smile if he was not so exhausted.

Kurumi feebly opened her eyes with tears running down her face.

"It's called Zombrex. It's a temporarily cure that must be applied every 24th hour. Are you ok, Kurumi?"

"I'm tired." The pigtailed girl covered her face with her arm, finally breathing normally again. From a distance, Steven could be seeing glaring at the group. But unbeknownst to them, he grew pleased to see that Kurumi was getting better. A complete monster, he was not.

"I could imagine that." The photographer smiled at her. "Guys, we need to find more Zombrex. Let's check the vans to see if they have any."

Miki and Paul nodded simultaneously but suddenly realizing that they needed Steven's help. But they both feared their next exchange of dialogue with him, especially Paul.

"Sir, are you telling me that there have been more outbreaks?" Yuuri's eyes grew wide with horror as she watched Otis nod. "Yes. But they say that this is the biggest one ever."

"Who are _they_?" Yuuri scowled. Taromaru squirmed in her lap.

"The media. They keep records of all the outbreaks. I think the last outbreak was…20 years ago?" Otis said. "I can't remember though." The older man sat down before Yuuri. "What I do remember that the government have leveled every city infected."

The revelation caught Yuuri off guard. Her mouth stood open like a fish as the information sunk in. _The cities had been leveled…_ That would mean that eventually, the school and this city would disappear as well. It appeared that it was common belief that destroying the cities would contain the infections but that did not explain just _where_ the virus came from.

What about the survivors? Did they die as well? Could the same be happening to Yuuri and the rest?


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: First off, I'd like to apologize to all of my fateful readers and those who likes this story so far. I've been sloppy and I've lost a bit of passion due to new ideas and other stuff in my life. But I've pushed through and come up with a new chapter as often as possible just to please my readers but in doing so, I felt that I rushed the story and lowered the quality. So for that; I am sorry. For this chapter, I've tried to really push the plot forward a bit so we can finally get Yuki reunited with the gang among other things. So please enjoy this while I go through and editing/rewriting phase of the last 9 chapters.**

 **Also, WARNING: THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN RACIAL LANGUAGE. AND I DO NOT CONDONE ANY OF IT**

"What in the world are you doing?" Isabela didn't think she had ever sounded so frantic before as she grabbed Yuki's wrist. "Going after Carlo-nii. I need to find him and introduce my friends to him. He has to meet the one who is going to marry you, Megu-nee!"

"Ma-marry me? Little One… it's dangerous outside." Isabela pulled harder. "You should wait until Carlo gets back."

"C'mon, Megu-nee!" The girl pleaded and pulled harder. "You're not being nice, Megu-ne!"

It was too risky. Isabela couldn't allow Yuki to just wander off. She found the girl crying and miserable, alone amidst a horde of zombies, without a single scratch. She had completely avoided a single drop of blood on her. But it was only an insane stroke of luck and Isabela knew that it would not happen again.

"I know you want to see those dear to you. But I can't let you go out on your own. There are many bad… people in the world." Isabela sighed as she pulled harder and with the sudden shift of force, Yuki stopped. The pink-haired girl turned to Isabela. There was a pleased smile on her lips as she gently pried Isabella's fingers off.

"Don't worry, Megu-nee. I'll be careful." And before Isabela could object any further, Yuki was gone.

Kurumi wiped sweat off her forehead as the needle pierced through her skin and she saw the liquid being poured into her body. The vision made her dizzy, more so than she already was. She sighed deeply when the needle left her body. As soon as that happened, she tried to sit up.

"Where's my shovel?" she fumbled her hand across the ground.

"Easy, now. You're in no state of fighting."

"I'd be dammed if I wasn't. Now where's my shovel?"

"In the mall."

A round of awkward silence entered as Kurumi lay down again. The cold ground was oddly soothing for her. Frank cleared his throat. "We'll get you a new one."

"…It's ok. And thanks for helping me." She almost whispered after a long pause. She looked away to avoid Frank's gaze. The photographer shrugged. "Don't mention it." He picked her up, supporting her with his shoulder.

"You don't really need to carry me anymore." She lied. "Also…"

"Hm?"

"Sorry that I was such a bitch. I was just… everything was wrong. With Yuki-chan gone, nothing really feels right."

Frank was horrible at comforting people. Perhaps that was the biggest reason as to why, he managed to remain a bachelor for all of his life. Thus he chose to listen to Kurumi's plight. He could feel the pigtailed girl's muscles tense up as she stopped speaking.

"I don't blame ya." He simply clapped her on the shoulder. "We all got pretty shocked when that happened." He paused. "Think to yourself. She is in a better place now."

"I think I feel like believing you." Kurumi sighed.

A few meters away, Miki and Paul walked cautiously towards a sulking Steven. The store owner was curled up in a ball, flashing his back to the pair as they stopped to discuss their next move.

"So what do we do?"

"Paul, what do you do when you want information from others?"

"Uhm…talk?"

"Correct. That should answer your question."

Miki took a few steps towards the man, keeping her distance before speaking. "Sir," she began, taking a deep breath along with some courage before speaking again.

"If you'd so kindly tell us where the supplies are." She tried her best to be polite and confident, just like her mother taught her. Yet she could not deny that she was unnerved by the store owner's upcoming reaction. Until now, his behavior had been most unpredictable and straight up violent.

But his actions now were underwhelming in comparison. With slow movements, he pointed towards a truck further down the parking lot, between two cars and sobbed.

"My store is gone… everything that I have ever lived for is gone… it doesn't matter anymore."

"I'm sorry, sir." Miki glared at Paul, who shrugged by her aggravated stare. The blonde walked up to him, her eyes not wavering from his.

"When it comes to terms of responsibility, I think you should give this man an apology." Miki's good upbringing brought out the old her. A person, she was not proud of. And to make matters more confusing, neither she or Paul owed Steven nothing. He had tried to kill her and managed to harm her at several occasions, while insulting someone as jittery as Paul. So why did he deserve an apology? For the sake of survival.

"He tried to kill us." Paul pointed out, more annoyed than anxious.

"In a fit of unrest. I believe that we can try to make him our ally, if we get on his good side. And bring him out of his crippling depression." Miki said, remembering that he killed on of their own. Even when she hated herself for saying such things, she was aware that a zombie apocalypse was needlessly cruel to moral ethics. And with Steve on their side, he could perhaps inform them of where he got his store supplies from. Miki prepared to leave the scene when her wrist was suddenly grabbed by a hand with lanky fingers.

"He-he called me a pussy!" He began panicking, his eyes shifting restlessly around behind his glasses.

"Paul! Please do it… for my sake." Miki pleaded, as Paul slowly let go of her. There was hint of a timid smirk on his lips as he tried to establish eye contact with Miki. They stood and looked at each other a bit, the atmosphere getting increasingly awkward.

"If you say so."

"Thank you." Miki smiled briefly before she made a steady turn of heels and ran across the parking, to the truck further away. But as she neared the vehicle, her mind was suddenly not focused on getting the supplies but on Paul. Why though? The blonde shook her head, taking her time to inspect the truck and forget about the young man for a while. Blood was splattered all over the front window and the driver sat in the passenger's seat, dead from a bullet to the head. Miki shrugged, chills running down her spine. But she mustered up all of the courage she could get and opened the door to the driver's seat. Thankfully, the keys lay on the seat and Miki grabbed it. She hurried to the back of the truck, quickly unlocking the doors and jumped inside. Before resuming her quest, she took a few breaths. By this point, she had grown accustomed to the world of death for longer than she ever wanted to and still she found herself anxious every time, she had to look death in the eye.

Her backpack was relatively empty so she could stuff good amounts of supplies in it. The blonde fetched the flashlight from her back, turning it on to navigate around the cramped spaces. She needed to proceed with caution if she wanted to avoid being crushed. For now, canned food and Zombrex were her top priority.

Even Miki was amazed of how agile she was. It was unlikely, to say the least as she had been spending her time in the literature club before the disaster happened and she hated sports with a passion. But ever since the day where she escaped, her physical capabilities had grown considerably. Running from zombies and fighting them was a surprisingly good form of exercise.

Thankfully, canned sausages were what she found first. It was close to the entrance of the truck, so Miki could easily push the two boxes out without much difficulty. With a loud thump, the boxes landed on the ground and the blonde returned to find more supplies.

 _Canned food and Zombrex._

 _Canned food and Zombrex._

Those two words kept floating in Miki's head as she dug deeper. With every move that she made, the entire contents of the tuck rocked, alerting her. She crawled closer to the wall and soon found herself a tiny spot where she could rest for a bit – and be safe. She closed her eyes, feeling the exhaustion wash over her as she drifted away. Now was not the time to do so but she could barely keep her eyes open.

"Get your ass out here, whoever you are!" she heard the clicking of a loaded gun as a stranger threatened her. Miki wondered for how long she had been gone. Her blood turned cold and she held her breath. She could stay in here until they thought that no one was here but what if they saw her enter?

"Miki!" Paul's frantic voice called out for her with a strong hint of anger. "Get away from there, you-you dirty bastard."

"One step closer and I'll blast you to kingdom come." The stranger snarled with an eerily calm tone. He sounded relatively young, barely older than Rii-san. Perhaps another survivor from another school.

Something within Miki stirred and she forced herself in the open, tumbling over her feet as she did so. Sure it was a foolish move but she would rather expose herself than to have Paul being shot. On the other hand, she could maybe try to ally herself and the others with the stranger. The clicking of the gun had alarmed her and she regretted that she had no fighting skills. Just in case, everything went to hell.

When she looked outside, she saw a panicked Paul ready with a Molotov cocktail, an overweight young man around the same age as herself and a slightly older man, with a red cap, both with a loaded shotgun.

"Huh, no wonder the dweeb came flocking." He pointed the gun at Miki. "Gotta save the princess, after all." His eyes turned to Paul as he smiled viciously.

"Tell your girlfriend to step away from the truck. And don't you even think about throwing that thing at me."

"We can share supplies!" Miki tried to hide every hint of uneasiness but she found herself more stressed as the situation went on. "There's enough for-"

"Listen up, Rice-picker. Get away from the truck or four-eyes here gets his head blown off."

"Big brother… maybe we should listen to what the girl says. We-we can share, right?" the younger one with the glasses spoke for once, his voice meek and timid as a mouse.

"Shut up, Kenny." His older brother snarled at him, lowering his gun and thus his guard. "It's a matter of survival and this Jap right here ain't gonna take my God-given right to live in my own country!"

Miki was appalled. Furious even. She clenched her fist, shaking as she did so. Her blood was boiling and her muscles tensed up like never before. She was seeing red and with that all common sense slowly left as anger was taking over.

"We're Americans, Kenny. We were here first and she ain't down with that, she can piss off back to whatever rice field she came fro-" before the man with the cap could finish his rant, a strong fist was planted straight to his jaw, by Miki who had almost flown over to him. In all the confusion and anger, she punched him a second time. And a third. And a fourth. His shotgun landed on the ground, going off by accident but Miki paid no attention to that.

"How dare you! You racist, bigoted redneck! How can you be so self-absorbed with your own apple pie culture!"

After recovering from the shock of the shot, Paul stood completely flabbergasted at what he saw. Never had he imagined Miki to ever react like this. He wondered if he should step in or immobilize the other guy with the gun, who was even more shocked than himself. And then another thought appeared in his head. This had to a trap. It had to. Steven refused to really talk when Paul approached him; perhaps it was all a trap to take them out one by one. The was no doubt about it; Steven had lured them in! And now Miki could die! He could die! Everyone would die!

But not this time; he needed to be strong. For her sake.

"Shoot her-ouch! Shoot, Thomas!" The man with the red cap grunted as he tried to shield himself from Miki's rain of punches. "For fuck's sake, put a bullet in-ow-her already!"

The shot had alerted Frank and Kurumi, who quickly headed towards the source of the sound.

"Shit! What now?" Kurumi cursed under her breath. She feared the worst, she could afford to lose another friend. Her heart sank as they got closer. Not to mention that she was already fatigued after running a few hundred meters and she needed her shovel now than ever. Especially when the chance of zombies attracted to the commotion was growing bigger.

"Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst."

Through the outskirts of the streets, Yuki sprinted at fast as she could. She looked wildly for a mall, as Megu-nee had described begrudgingly. It was the same place where Carlo-nii had gone to and thus Yuki ventured on to find him. Thankfully, it was close by.

High spirited, Yuki happily made her way through the many masses of people, heading one direction. She pink-haired girl stopped to catch her break as she found a spot further away from the crowd. She wished, she had bought a water bottle. It did not look long before she continued on the quest. Soon, Frank would finally meet Megu-nee and she could finally see her friends again.

But then her stomach growled. Rather loudly.

"Oh shoot." She looked around for any stores, oblivious to the incoming danger that had been attracted to her carefree attitude. She paid no mind to the zombie that slowly snuck up on her, not before it was close to attacking. It opened its mouth with its rotting breath and vile, decomposing pieces of flesh between its teeth. In a split second, Yuki's life could be brought to an end. But fate did not allow it.

The zombie was promptly knocked off its feet, flying across the ground as a startled Yuki shrieked. She sat frozen, completely unaware of the yellow motorcycle that had saved her life.

"Are you okay? You' haven't been bitten or anything?" an unfamiliar voice tapped her shoulder, causing the frightened girl to look up. For a couple of moments, she saw Frank. Then Carlo-nii, only to see an unfamiliar face at last. A man in a yellow jacket stood before her. He helped her on her feet before he looked around, staying alert of any incoming danger. They were surrounded by zombies but there was some distance between the pair and the horde. But it was only a matter of time before they found themselves in a tight spot. They needed to get away from here.

"I'm uki!"

"That's… good to hear." The man concluded before he grew more stern. "What are you doing out here? Are you alone?" he led her to his motorcycle. It had a very detailed design, nothing like Yuki had ever seen before. Her eyes grew big as teacups.

"I'm looking for my friends! And Carlo-nii! Megu-nee said that he might be at a mall. Uhm…" Yuki tilted her head, deep in thought as she tried to remember what Isabell had told her.

"The Willamette mall?"

"Bingo~! Hmph!" Yuki grunted as she tried to climb on the vehicle. She lay on the seat with her stomach, sprawling like a fish on land.

"…I'm going there myself. I'm looking for someone too." The man in the yellow jacket helped her up, making sure that she sat properly.

"Oh? Who?" The pink haired girl asked with great curiosity.

"My daughter, Katey. She's around your age."

"18?"

"Wait, what? No." he paused before facing her again. "By the way, I'm Chuck."

"I'm Yuki! Pleased to meet youuuuuu-eeeeeeek!" The motorcycle drove off with great speed as Yuki snaked her arms around Chuck's torso and squeezed hard. Occasionally, she would open her eyes in brief seconds before closing them again due to the velocity. But she managed to catch a glimpse of something in the horizon. Perhaps, her destination?

 **End note: Yay, I got to smack two flies at once. Chuck and the crazy Halls! Yeah, I know that the latter use sniper rifles and not shotguns but I could imagine that since they appear to be gun-nuts, they have all kinds of firearms.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I would love to post this chapter a lot earlier but I was suffering from brutal PC problems, that not only left unable to go online for more than 5 minutes but also, and even worse yet, caused my PC to go into "crash-reboot" mode for a few hours or so. In other words, I've been out of a PC since early January and just this week, I finally got my PC repaired. Not to mention that school started again. Ugh.**

 **HOWEVER now that I am online for now, I'll write as much as I can and update like crazy, but if I go on a spontaneous hiatus again, you all know why. Anywho, enjoy this chapter and please feel free to leave a review.**

Even though she had just been bitten, Kurumi's energy was back miraculously. She ran forwards, towards the one with glasses and yanked the shotgun out of his hand, rather easily as he was too frightened to do anything. Kurumi was fuming, releasing a war cry before she slammed the handle of the gun into the side of the younger man's head. He stumbled backward, unconscious. Frank managed to catch him before he smashed his head in the asphalt.

"Miki!" Paul shrieked in horror, cradling the bleeding Miki who lay wounded on the ground, the blood pouring out of the bullet hole in her arm. Her breathing was uneven and she whimpered weakly as she shut her eyes to prevent the tears from falling. The man with the red cap silently rolled away, rubbing his sore face. That Asian girl managed to land several good punches to his face and he was more than sure that she managed to break his nose as the blood spilled all over his shirt and hand.

He wiped the blood off his face and reached for the shotgun, wary of the sudden company. If he could just reach a couple of more inches-

"Don't think about it." Kurumi aimed the gun at him. She held it steadily in her hands, her eyes shooting lightning. Though she extracted no fear, she was terrified beyond wording. She hoped that her fearless attitude could persuade him from trying anything funny as she would love to avoid shooting, given the fact that she had no idea how this thing worked. Sure, one pulled the trigger and a shot was fired but how about the throwback power? What if she completely missed her target or shot someone else? Not to mention the exhaustion that came sneaking up on her.

Luckily, the man backed off and Paul quickly reached for the shotgun, pointing it at the man. He was shaking with anger and his tight around the barrel was so tight that the whites of his knuckles were showing.

"You-you monster. I will kill you!"

"Paul." Frank's voice was stern. He lay the boy down on the ground and headed towards him, raising his hand in a defensive manner. There was no more need for more ´bloodshed. Right now, getting the food was the only thing that mattered. But he couldn't help but wonder what he should do with these two.

"Paul, don't do it. You'll regret it afterward." He pleaded, standing in arm's length of Paul. If he dared, he could have reached out and yanked the gun out of his hand. But a feeling in his gut told him that it would only result in disaster. So, the only reasonable course of action was to be as psychologically inviting as possible. Not his strongest side as he would much rather be telling things as they are.

"But he tried to kill Miki."

"Actually, Kenny did. With good reason 'cause your bitch attacked me first!" the man with the red cap smirked, looking at the unconscious boy that lay a few feet away from him, unfazed by the fact that his buddy lay on the ground.

"Sh-shut up or I'll shoot! I'll shoot you!"

"I bet Miki would be most disappointed if you killed someone," Frank said, basing his words on common sense and assumption. Sure, Miki and the rest of the School Live club had been subjected to death on a daily basis but none of them would go as far as to kill another human, would they? Frank had no qualms about it for the sake of survival but them? They were just teenagers, controlled by their hormones and whatnot.

Paul seemed to calm down as he lowered the shotgun but he sent the man with the cap a death's glare. By now Miki sat up, clutching her wound. She clenched her teeth, trying desperately to muffle her grunts of pain.

"H-he's right. It makes you, ugh, no better than them if you kill them." She spoke, looking at Paul with pained eyes. Tense moments passed by and it soon felt like an eternity before a change of course was made. Paul, begrudgingly, lowered the gun, his hyperventilating slowly dying down.

"Great job, kid. Now, let's take the supplies and get out of here." Frank said, picking up the one unconscious kid named Kenny and placed him on his shoulder.

"And racist McGee?" Kurumi snorted, to which Frank delayed his reply. He turned his gaze away from her and towards the man with the red cap, who crossed his arms, frowning deeply.

"Put my brother down and we'll leave."

Frank had a hard time believing that. Years of wartime had left him naturally skeptical towards anything really but he knew that they had already won not to mention this kid was unarmed. Against his better judgment, he put the young boy down and took a few steps back.

"Kurumi, keep an eye on those two while I gather the supplies." He said as he headed towards the truck. The door to the storage was opened but Frank quickly closed it again and took the key before heading to the driver's seat. A corpse was slumped over the steering wheel with blood covering everything. Frank, unfazed by the gore, pulled the body out of the truck and with it. He started the truck and drove towards the girls and Paul.

"Alright. I've had enough of this place. Get in." The photographer waved to the teens, prompting them to enter.

"And those two?" Kurumi glared at the brothers who were on their way to God knew where.

"They said they'd leave, right? So let them. We can't keep babysitting them anyways."

"So, uh, how do we get all of this food to the safe room?" Paul sat squeezed between Kurumi and Miki, the latter letting her head rest on his shoulder as she drifted off.

"We'll have to drive it through the gate." The photographer said, as a matter of fact, earning a glare of disbelief from Kurumi.

"You can't be serious."

"Look in front of you. What else can we do?"

And sure enough, a wave of undead blocked the entrance to the mall. It would be next to impossible for them to reenter the mall unharmed. Due to the commotion of the earlier hours, they had come flocking like flies. Running them all down with the truck was the only option left.

And thus, Frank pressed the speeder down.

"What the…? Where have the lot of you been?" Otis stood up when the group returned to the hideout with their arms and bags filled with supplies. Even still, they all looked like they had returned from a war zone; all covered in cuts and scratches not to mention that the two girls had received awful wounds. Looking at their current state, he silently began to conclude a series of possible events. He headed towards Frank and the two exchanged glances.

"We got the supplies. Now, we should be settled for now. And, uh, there's a truck outside with more stuff."

Yuuri's eyes grew wide with horror and she jumped to her feet, oblivious to her injury and hurried over to her friends.

"Kurumi-chan! Miki-san! What happened? Are you alright?" the brunette hugged them both, her voice shrill and light with horror. At her feet, Taromaru barked with eagerness.

"We're fine. We just had a few… mishaps." Kurumi said and pulled away from Yuuri's tight grasp. The brunette had accidently touched her bite mark and it was still aching and sore, unwarranted of any physical contact.

"Indeed. But we came out on top. Right, Paul?"

By hearing his name, the young man's cheeks pinked and he gave an eager nod.

Later that evening, the hardships of the group were celebrated with a somewhat scarce dinner. Regardless, the safe room was filled with supplies, that would suffice for days.

"Why are we stopping here? Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we went to the parking lot?" Yuki asked as Chuck carried her down off the bike. Chuck furrowed a bit, noting that the girl was heavier than she looked like. In the distance, a horde of undead wandered aimlessly about; the incoming dusk making them harder to spot. He knew that they all got unreasonably more aggressive at night and the noise of the motorcycle would draw them near. Frankly, Chuck didn't want anything else but to avoid fighting a wave of zombies with inhuman strength

"Probably." He said, resisting the urge to further explain himself. Sure, Yuki was 18 years of age although looked no older than 10 but what worried him the most was this unnerving feeling that kept nagging him. The little voice in his head telling him that her mind was far from stable. Which further left the question of how she managed to run around without even a bloodstain, let alone a scratch.

"The…there are too many zombies for us to drive through them."

"Zombies…?"a blank stare

"Mr. Greene, zombies only exist in films!

"Goddammit." Chuck cursed under his breath. His fears were well justified. "Ok, we walk the rest of the way but we have to be quiet."

Yuki carefreely skipped to his side, taking his hand in the process. Upon her lips was the sincerest of innocent smiles, he had seen in a long time and he couldn't help himself to see her as a child. She was old enough to be his sister and even still.

Then again, as they walked towards the end of the day, he was once again reminded that her mind was broken beyond repair. He couldn't blame her for that. And therefore, he had to protect her.

"We'll take a detour through the plaza."

"M'kay." The petite girl said drowsily. Her grip on Chuck's hand loosened and he decided to carry her on his back. It would of course leave him open to attacks but on the other hand, it gave him the possibility of speed, should danger arise.

It had barely been an hour before she began drooling on him in her sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello peeps. Here's another update. It's been a busy time for me with exams and shit but seeing people fave and review my story, really made me happy and motivated to take time out of my schedule and write an update for you all.**

 **Thank you all so much for your support. I hope you will enjoy this.**

 **From Denmark with love,**

 **Yama.**

Matching her size, Yuki was a light girl. Chuck could easily compare her weight to that of Katey's. Around them, the zombies wandered aimlessly around, although their positions forced Chuck to make several detours. Thankfully, he remembered every inch of this place like the back of his hand as he used to drive around on his bike, giving autographs. His most popular gathering places seemed to switch between Fortune City and Willamette.

"Mmm, are we home yet?" Yuki groaned from behind his back, drowsy. Amidst all the gore, she seemed to have fallen asleep. It was truly amazing, how relaxed she could be, considering her damage.

Then again, it didn't seem like Yuki had any sense of urgency, let alone danger.

"Just a little longer."

The pair kept mostly to the safest looking routes, which didn't say much considering their circumstances. Eventually, they passed a shop, that looked rather safe, due to its vacancy. It was a gun store called Huntin' Shack, based on the name, posters and bombastic federal flags hanging in the windows. Chuck decided that a gun wouldn't hurt to have. It was much safer than a melee weapon when he also had to protect Yuki and get to Willamette without trouble.

"Can you hop down for a bit?" He said, making sure to keep his voice as low as possible.

"Oki!" The little girl complied without much objection. Her pink eyes lid up when she saw the store, cone again oblivious to the groaning of death around her. "Ooooh, this looks cool!"

"I bet it does. Stay behind me; we're going in." Chuck said and grabbed Yuki's hand.

The pair entered the store and immediately Chuck was weary of the eerie silence. He tightened his grip around her hand and looked around. The store had everything in shapes of firearms; it was ridiculous. If anything, this surely had to be the shop of a typical redneck.

"Hello?" the motorcyclist called out but was only answered by silence. It seemed that the place had been abandoned after all but how could it be that all these firearms lay here, ready for anyone to just walk in and grab. It didn't make much sense when one thought about-

A gunshot rang through the store, inches away from hitting Chuck's face. He threw himself over Yuki as more gunshots were fired.

"Eeeeeek! Mr. Greene, what's going on? Why are fireworks going off inside?!" Yuki cried from underneath him.

For a second, he wanted to shout the truth into her face. That was probably the worst idea possible so Chuck kept his cool as he quickly made way to one of the cabinets and smashed it with his elbow. Glass landed all over the ground and Yuki's eyes grew wide in horror as he shoved his arm into the cabinet and got a hold of a revolver. How effective, that would be against a hunter rifle, only time would tell.

"Get down. Do not stand up until I say so!" he commanded before crawling towards the ammunition booth. More gun shots were fired around.

"Don't get any closer, ya scum!" a stranger shouted in the middle of the bullet storm. As Chuck had expected, this man was a citizen of the south.

Swift and quick as the wind, Chuck finally got to the ammo and grabbed a package, hoping to God that it would fit the firearm. He opened the case with bullets falling to the ground with a loud noise. As his lack of luck would have it, the noises alarmed the stranger, who now stood across him with a rifle in hand, aiming directly at Chuck.

"There, ya little weasel. Goin' around and stealin' my guns!" the stranger growled with his finger resting on the trigger. From his position, Chuck saw the shocked expression on Yuki's face. It wouldn't surprise him if she was hallucinating again and saw this as one big game.

In that same moment, the door was opened and another stranger stepped in. "Hello? Excuse me, sir." A man around Chuck's age entered the store, oblivious to the danger he had just walked into. However, it gave Chuck enough time to load the gun with two or three bullets as the two men occupied themselves with each other.

"Are you here to steal my guns to, ya rat?"

"What? No, sir. I'm here to-"

But before the unsuspecting stranger could finish his sentence, a hole was blasted into his chest with blood spurting out everywhere. A trail of blood followed his body as it flew out the door and out to the zombies, who happily devoured it. Shivers ran down Chuck's spine as he tried to shake the shock away. He could not begin to imagine the horror on Yuki's face. If anything, he would love to avoid more death but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Letting out a soundless breath, he jumped to his feet and aimed the gun directly at the man. There was no time to aim or care about precision. Right now, he needed the stranger immobilized. Without hesitation, Chuck pulled the trigger and watched as the man let out a scream of anguish before stumbling back against a wall.

"You-you're insane! You want guns so badly that you're willin' to kill for them?!" he gasped in terror backing away from Chuck. The bullet had hit him in the chest, in a non-vital area but he would pretty much bleed to death if he was not medically treated.

"Look, you fired at us when we entered; you killed a man and now you call me insane?" Chuck sighed, lowering the gun as he watched the man struggle.

"I was only tryin' to survive!"

"So are we. Let's put this behind us, patch you up and-"

"Nu-uh! No way that I'm-Gah!" Suddenly, the man stumbled over Yuki, who let out a terrified shriek. She jumped up from her position, once she saw the blood; her face losing all colors. Her entire body was shaking and she slowly backed away from the man, who stumbled in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" Chuck called out but it was too late. He watched helplessly as the man fell upon exiting the store and zombies flocked around him before devouring him, including the man that he had previously killed. There was little to be done.

With a heavy heart, Chuck walked up to Yuki, who watched the gore occur. Her expression was blank, a complete stark contrast to her usual happy self.

"I'm sorry that you had to see this. Come," Chuck said, wrapping a protective arm around the small girl.

"Megu-nee…"

"Come again?"

"Megu-nee. She-She's… the zombies. They killed her! They killed Megu-ne!"

Isolated from the rest of the group, Miki decided to draw a map of the mall so they could better navigate themselves whenever the issue of a scavenger hunt was needed. Granted, it was not much that the group had seen during their time in the mall but it was a start. She had asked Frank to take pictures for her, so she had a chance to pinpoint every important location in the mall for future references. As things stood now, with her injury, she wasn't going anywhere; a thought that angered her somewhat.

"H-hey." A familiar voice greeted Miki from behind, once she had put the map on the wall using tape. The blonde turned around to be met with Paul and his smile. He had been watchful of her since the incident with the brothers.

"Hi." She said and sat down on the floor to catch a break. It annoyed her how little she could do with her wound. In truth, it was a very unflattering position she found herself in but at this point, she found it hard to care.

"You ok?" Paul asked. She noticed how he looked at the wall to avoid peeking under her skirt. In reality, he had to kneel before that was possible. Still, it was noble of him to be so considerate.

"Paul." Miki began. "You ask me every hour. I'll be fine."

"I-I know! It's just, it's just that you were badly hurt and-and…"

"Don't worry. I'm alive and recovering. Thanks to you, that is."

A blush crept over Paul's face upon hearing this. He looked away from her for a second before trying to face her again although be it with difficulty.

"I could have… I could have done something bad if Frank hadn't stopped me."

"Yes. I'm glad, you listened. But regardless of what you did, I know you only did it for my sake."

It was the most sincere thing, Miki had said in a while and frankly, it felt good; like a rock being lifted off her chest. And to see the smile creep across Paul's face, made her heart flutter a bit.

"Am I really worth that much to you?"

"What? Of course, I-"

"Sorry. I need validation sometimes. I… I lost a friend once and no matter how I look at it, I can't stop thinking that it's my fault. "

Paul looked ready to say something but stopped himself. Instead, he sat down next to Miki, observing her closely.

"I'm sure, it wasn't."

"I would like to think that too. If only, I'd been stronger so I could go with her." Miki said, refraining from saying anymore before the tears began. She looked away for a moment and wiped away the tears. It had been a while since she had vocally mentioned Kei. Not even the rest of the School Live Club knew much about her aside from their separation.

It made Miki feel vulnerable when reminded of their lost friendship. It was a side of her that she hated to expose to others. After all this time, she had finally been able to suppress these awful feelings and the crushing sense of guilt. It made her wonder why she suddenly told this to Paul.

Letting out a deep sigh, the blonde leaned against the wall when suddenly she felt a pair of fingers catching a tear, that decided to run down her cheek.

"What are you doing?" Miki exclaimed as she backed away, her face darkening to a deep red.

"Shit! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, uh, well that!"

"You know, it's all right. Just-just warn me next time." Miki said as she buried her face in her knees. After everything, they had been through and this was the point, that made her flustered.


End file.
